Psalm 119:97-104
English Standard Version (ESV)
Mem
97 Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
103 and 104 are what caught my attention this morning, perhaps because I'm steeping hot tea while writing. Even with all of the sweeteners and artificial sweeteners and halfway-but-not-quite-natural sweeteners that society has come up with, it's hard to beat honey. Honey is pretty much the epitome of a 100% natural sweetener, harvested or eaten by many predators, humans and animals alike. If honey is so coveted for its sweetness, how much more should God's words be coveted! The Bible says that God's words are "sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Like I said, hard to beat honey. And yet God wins in a landslide.
Sometimes when I'm craving food (usually sweet food,) I'll sit down and read my Bible instead. I read somewhere that sometimes when we're having a craving that we associate with food, it's really our soul crying out to satisfy the craving for spiritual food--the Word of God. I've found that to be true, and reading my Bible has satisfied my strange cravings before. I think of it in association to tea--when tea doesn't taste just right, most people go for the honey. When life doesn't taste just right, a lot of people go for the Bible. That's not to say that's the only time we should go for our Bibles--that's not the case at all! Where honey makes tea sweeter, the Bible, God's word, makes life sweeter. It doesn't necessarily make it easier. It makes it bearable and beautiful despite the trial and hardship.
And in the rest of this section (Mem) you can see what kind of sweetness God's words adds to life! "Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies...more understanding than all my teachers...understand more than the aged*...through your precepts I get understanding." (*There's a footnote in my Bible that says "aged" can be read as "elders" as well.) Who wouldn't want to be wiser and more understanding?
Today my goal is to remember that instruction from God is always sweet, even if it's discipline or a warning. Remember--sweet doesn't mean easy. It means beautiful and full of love.
In Christ and Love,
Gabrielle
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